A quick trip to Ferrara, a treasure of central Italy. Rich in architecture and history, it was once the seat of a thriving Jewish community. Many Americans remember the city from the bittersweet film, “The Garden of The Finzi Continis.”
Castle & Moat in Ferrara
HG was eager to spend time in the
Boldini Museum, housed in a meticulously preserved 18th century palace.
Giovanni Boldini was a painter whose career spanned the turn of the century into the 1920s. He was much admired, with friends ranging from Marcel Proust to Diaghilev, the great ballet impressario. His portraits of beautiful women are incomparable in their grace and stylish elegance. Boldini has been compared to Sargent, but a close examination of his work reveals a more daring artist. His brush strokes vibrate with energy and, in many ways, he is a precursor of the Italian Futurists and the French Cubists.
Of course, beauty always stimulates the appetite, so HG, BSK , Brilliant Daughter Lesley R. and her husband, Professore Massimo lunched at a bustling Ferrara eatery, Antica Trattoria Volano. Robust food. There was a risotto heady with the scent and flavor of white truffles, creamy polenta with braised eel,
Creamy Polenta & Mushrooms
more creamy polenta with mushrooms, pappardelle with a very tasty donkey sauce (that’s right, donkey makes a very superior sauce). HG managed to get down a big platter of
Bolito Misto
bollito misto (the great Italian dish featuring a variety of boiled meats and sausages, the great-great-great grandfather of the New England boiled dinner). HG’s bollito misto was accompanied by some generous condiments — mostarda di fruta, salsa verde and sharp horse radish. Desserts included creme caramel and light-as-a-feather almond meringue cookies.
There was no lingering in Ferrara. The beautiful city is in the Po River delta and the entire area features impenetrable fog that can make highway driving a near lethal adventure. The HG group got out just in time.
Christmas Market in Ferrara
If fate is kind to HG and BSK they will be in Bologna later in 2011 or in early 2012. Bologna is a delightful city, not much visited by Americans who stick to the Rome-Florence-Venice peregrination. They miss out on the best cuisine in Italy. Some may object to this statement since Bologna is an inland city and fish is not on many menus. However, for the truly robust eater (and one who is not too fearful of cholesterol) Bologna is a dream. Of course, the city has many others features besides food: Interesting museums, architecturally outstanding arcades, a noble square anchored by a cathedral and a soaring bell tower; one of the oldest and most revered universities in Europe and a moving memorial to the many who died fighting fascism. Splendid…
Okay, back to the food. HG has joyous memories of a dinner he had at the classic Ristorante Diana. The decor was classic — hand polished wood and glittering mirrors of 1920’s-30’s vintage. Courtly waiters. Traditional Bolognese dishes. HG’s meal started with tagliatelle with butter and the best parmesan. The waiter topped the dish with generous shavings of pungently fragrant white truffles. Then a large man wheeled over a silver cart, removed some lids and allowed HG to gaze upon the ultimate Bolito Misto, the classic Italian dish of boiled meats: Juicy beef; Cotechino (a fat sausage that had simmered at a low heat for four hours); Zampone, which is a pig’s trotter stuffed with sausage meat — a delicious, porky treat that has a delicate rim of fat which creates a velvety contrast with the rough hewn sausage. Tongue; a chicken thigh. HG had it all with very generous lashings of salsa verde and mostarda di frutta. The wine was Sangiovese. Dessert was a semifreddo, the Italian version of frozen custard. Unforgettable.
